UN shows strong support for economic stability in Lebanon

PARIS, One month before Lebanon holds its first parliamentary elections in nearly a decade, the United Nations called for continued international support for Lebanon’s political and economic stability, citing it as a bulwark for stability in the region.

“Supporting Lebanese unity and stability will support stability in the entire region, and it will diminish the threats to peace that we are facing today in the world,” said United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, Administrator, Achim Steiner. “But we can only achieve this by working together.”

Steiner was speaking on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General at a global conference hosted by President Emmanuel Macron on Lebanon’s economic development called the ‘Conference Economique pour le Developpement et les Reformes Economiques’, or CEDRE. The conference resulted in pledges of US$10.2 billion to support Lebanon.

More than 50 delegations, including financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, participated in the conference. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri presented an ambitious ‘Capital Investment Plan’ and a structural reform programme to support Lebanon’s economic stability with a focus on economic growth and job creation.